6. What features should I include or avoid in my luxury custom home, to maximize its resale value?
A luxury custom home is probably going to be your largest single investment and it is sensible to plan a design that will appeal to the general marketplace as well as fit your own particular tastes and lifestyle.
Consider your personal intentions. If you are planning to stay in the house for ten years or more, the major focus should be on your preferred lifestyle. If your planned habitation is shorter, or less certain, the resale value becomes a larger priority.
Every marketplace is different, but the 5 D's, approach that works for planning a major remodeling project can be also be adjusted and applied to luxury custom home design. The 5 D's are:
- Distance (curb appeal)
- things that make a home attractive from a distance have a high rate of return. Landscaping, the front entrance, and the condition of the paint or siding are the biggest factors in curb appeal. Keep landscaping features simple, low maintenance, and neat. The front entrance is also a very important area.
- Deficiencies
- compared to other local homes. If your number of bathrooms, garage size, etc is lower than other comparative houses the home value will suffer.
- Distinction
- People buy emotionally and justify logically, so emotional attachment increases value. This is increased by the presence of 2 or 3 distinctive features like a large walk-in closet, whirlpool bath, fireplace, attractive landscaping, or a grand foyer that distinguishes your home from the the average.
- Demand - in-demand features will add value to your luxury custom home, features that are not may actually detract from its value. Avoid anything zany or out of character in the neighborhood.
- Degree - do not overdo anything. Enhancing how your home looks from a Distance, adding Distinction, or addressing Deficiencies, can usually give a good rate of return up to some point. After that, the rate of return drops off markedly. If you plan for one bath and all other houses in the area have two, spending $4,000 on adding a new bath might yield a return of $6,000 to $8,000 in terms of resale value. However, adding a bath that costs $15,000 may also yield an increased value of only $6,000 to $8,000.
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Distance - curb appeal
Distinction - differentiate your home, but keep it consistent with the neighborhood.
Degree - maintain good balance and don't overdo anything.
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